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Movies / Upcoming / Never Die Alone
Never Die Alone

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Never Die Alone (2004)

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Reviews Counted:88

Fresh:23

Rotten:65

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: DMX's menacing charisma is put to good use in this stylish but hackneyed modern-day noir.

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

US Box Office: $5,531,230

Synopsis: Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown... Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown seeking redemption but finding only violent death. But he did not die alone...King David’s final moments are spent with Paul (David Arquette) an aspiring journalist who knew him just a few minutes but upon whose life he would forever have an impact. King David – half preacher, half Satan, and all street smarts – had recorded the story of his recent exploits on audiotape, leaving behind an often-poetic sermon on villainy and its consequences. The tapes reveal that the cycle of violence and retribution his actions have spawned has come back on him full circle, as he suspected it might all along... One of the most prolific and widely read black authors of his generation, Donald Goines wrote his first two books while incarcerated, and followed those with an astonishing 16 novels written from the time he was released from prison in 1970 until he was shot to death in 1974. The film is directed by Ernest Dickerson whose directorial debut was the 1992 drama JUICE, starring Omar Epps and the late Tupac Shakur. Previously Dickerson served as Director of Photography on seven of Spike Lee’s early films up to and including MALCOLM X. He has directed a number of feature and made-for-TV films from the recent horror movie BONES starring Snoop Dogg to the Peabody Award-winning Showtime movie "Strange Justice," based on the controversy surrounding Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. Dickerson most recently directed the drama GOOD FENCES, starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, which had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. DMX is a top rap artist who has also found great success in the film business. He starred opposite Jet Li in CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE and also appeared in BELLY, ROMEO MUST DIE and EXIT WOUNDS, for which he received a Blockbuster Breakthrough Actor nomination. His first four albums debuted at number one and sold well over 22 million records in just four years. David Arquette starred in the box office smash hits SCREAM 1, 2 and 3, which won him the Blockbuster Favorite Actor Award in 1998. For his leading role in NEVER BEEN KISSED, he was awarded the 2000 Blockbuster Award for Favorite Supporting Actor. He recently drew acclaim for his portrayal of an inmate at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in Tim Blake Nelson’s drama THE GREY ZONE. -- © Fox Searchlight [More]

Starring: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez

Starring: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez, Clifton Powell

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
Screenwriter: James Gibson
Producer: Earl Simmons, Alessandro Camon
Composer: George Duke
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Reviews for Never Die Alone

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
04/02/05
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

DMX is vengeful, mean, and ruthless.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
03/21/04
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

An incredibly violent and technically shoddy but undeniably absorbing black gangster movie.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
03/25/04
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

What starts as a routine pimp film segues into an exercise in intrigue, thanks to some snappy editing and savvy performances.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
03/23/04
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

A pimped-up facsimile of David Goines' novel. I can't think of a more apt description of this misogynist and deeply flawed film noir.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
03/29/04
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Never Die Alone has the allure of a bad traffic accident. You don't want to look at it, but for some reason you can't avert your eyes.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
03/26/04
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

This 'gangsta noir' is a worthy heir to both 'blaxploitation' and to the Warner Bros. gangster classics that linked economic hardship and the allure of crime...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
03/30/04
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Purports to be literate film noir but comes off more like the overwritten project of a film school kid who just memorized his textbook on the style.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
03/25/04
Allison Benedikt
Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune

a haunting, well-written and powerfully acted film, burdened only by its moral impotence and one irrefutably underwritten contrivance: Aruqette's character.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
03/24/04
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

It's hard to imagine a more disturbingly woman-hating movie than Never Die Alone.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
03/26/04
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

His death was moving; his life was not. It's a requiem for a scumbag--one who left a whole lotta decent people destroyed in his wake.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
04/16/04
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

A flashy but ultimately routine saga of gangsta criminality and payback.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
03/26/04
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

Ernest Dickerson's Goth-like vision of this troubling tale about the dark side of human nature encapsulates the film noir genre.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
03/26/04
Guylaine Cadorette
Guylaine Cadorette
Hollywood.com

There's neither action nor thrill in this so-called action thriller, and there's really no reason to sit through it.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
04/02/04
Sarah Chauncey
Sarah Chauncey
Reel.com

DMX isn't up to the acting needed to play an epic anti-hero, but then director/ex-cinematographer Ernest Dickerson never makes Never very epic on any level.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
03/25/04
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Although the flashbacks within flashbacks within some more flashbacks structure is overly convoluted, Dickerson's visual flair and Stephen Lovejoy's crisp editing actually make the story easy to follow, if not to believe.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/26/04
Angel Cohn
Angel Cohn
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The only good thing about Never Die Alone is its rap-retro soundtrack.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
03/26/04
Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole
Globe and Mail

This is a violence-ridden movie with one of the most despicable characters you ever will see.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
03/31/04
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Never Die Alone is soft and squishy, lacking tension and suspense, not to mention logic.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/25/04
Randy Cordova
Randy Cordova
Arizona Republic

This is not a workable drama, just a series of ideas that rap stars who worship Scarface think would be cool to see.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/28/04
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
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